The present disclosure relates to the field of nut plates, and more particularly to a nut plate assembly including a Belleville washer stack.
A typical gas turbine engine operates in an extremely harsh environment characterized by very high temperatures and vibrations. A conventional gas turbine engine includes a compressor for compressing entering air, a combustor for mixing and burning the compressed gases that emerge from the compressor with fuel, a turbine for expanding the hot gases to generate thrust to propel the engine, and an exhaust nozzle for allowing hot gases to exit the engine. Thus, the exhaust nozzle must accommodate extremely hot gases exiting the engine. Other considerations critical to engine design are avoiding air leakage and insulating certain engine components from exposure to hot gases.
In certain areas exposed to these hot exhaust gases, specialized materials are used that can withstand hot temperatures. Such specialized materials, although especially resistant to temperature, can be susceptible to fracture or cracking when attachment means, such as bolt and nut assemblies, are placed under a high level of torque.
Additionally, a typical gas turbine engine also includes many areas where access to a nut and bolt assembly is only available from one side of the assembly. A nut plate is often used to obviate the need to apply torque to the nut in order to engage the bolt with the nut in these problematic areas.